MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Neill’s speculative Shakespeare remix invites characters from other plays to chime in on representation in Much Ado About Nothing.

The author’s Post Apocalyptic Space Shakespeare series follows Janine, a high-tech future civilization’s personality construct, who’s been tasked with exploring the strange new worlds of Shakespeare’s plays. She sometimes invites characters who die or disappear to leave their plays and join her travels. Among others, Janine and Ophelia, Rosalind, Viola, Othello, Falstaff, and even playwright Christopher Marlowe now live on a spaceship and visit other of the Bard’s works together as side characters. They must work as a team to leave major dramatic events intact while foiling their common enemy, Iago, who escaped Othello and seeks to conquer the entire Shakespearean canon. Newcomers to this series may struggle to gather this context, but readers who persevere will be rewarded. The books appealingly introduce lesser-known works alongside popular classics; for example, the volume begins with a remixed trial scene from Henry VI, Part 1 as Janine and the gang swoop in to rescue a condemned Shakespearean Joan of Arc; Marlowe and Shakespeare wrote this version of Joan as a demonic sorceress, which comes to the heroes’ attention after they’ve brought her aboard. The contrast between the play character and her real-life identity sends her into painful internal conflict regarding her “true” self. The theme of gendered power in Joan’s story dovetails nicely with Hero’s disgrace in Much Ado About Nothing. The latter story strikes a chord with other members of the cast as well: Ophelia despairs at seeing Hero rejected at the altar, and Othello notes that Don John’s deceptive undermining is “unwelcomely familiar.” Explanatory side comments, madcap hijinks, and an action-packed ending (leaving essential Much Ado events unchanged) should entice reluctant Shakespeare readers. Smart thematic connections and Neill’s dialogue will charm Shakespeare scholars with Othello’s sincere-but-suave encouragement of his female friends and Joan’s evangelism for French wine and cheese, all of which offers humor and warmth. Janine, Othello, Rosalind, Ophelia, and Viola all develop friendships with one another, continually raising the stakes.

A growing ensemble cast lends levity and warmth to a captivating reading of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies.